You can only love one
by EastSeaFishy
Summary: Hitsugaya encounters a hollow under circumstances he's never faced before. And then suddenly, the ice captain has gone missing. What will Soul Society do, and how will Karin cope? A Bleach Fanfic - HitsuxKarin
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Bleach or its characters.

Rated T because I _think_ there will be cursing at some point in the later chapters.

Chapter 1: Prologue

* * *

"Matsumoto!" Hitsugaya barked. "What's going on?"

"Oh, taichou! You're here already!" Hitsugaya scanned the surroundings.

"Is there a hollow?"

"No taichou, relax. I didn't call you here because I needed your help. Hinamori asked me to give this to you."

Hitsugaya felt suspicious. He turned to face his vice captain who had a look of utmost sincerity on her face. Realizing that he had suspected her too soon of something heinous, Hitsugaya apologetically held out his hand. Matsumoto quickly dropped something rather weighty into his palm.

When Matsumoto withdrew her arm, Hitsugaya saw a beautiful crystal resembling ice in his hand. It was attached to a light metal chain, which he looped around his neck with a small smile.

"She told me to pass this message on to you: Shiro-kun, stay safe." Matsumoto informed him.

"Thanks Momo…"

Suddenly, a burst of reiatsu flared and then died down. Instincts kicking in, Matsumoto and Hitsugaya pivoted to face the source of the burst. Instead, they found themselves facing air.

"Taichou…" Matsumoto started as she carefully looked around them. "that reiatsu…"

"I know Matsumoto. It was that of a hollow, and a strong one too."

After a moment, they both straightened from their fighting stances.

"Well, whatever it was, it's gone now. Maybe we should find Ichigo and ask him if he's noticed anything weird lately."

"Good idea. But I need to talk to Urahara. Matsumoto, if you find anything out, let me know right away."

"Hai!"

* * *

Ichigo was sitting at quietly his desk, studying diligently when a sharp rapping shocked him out of his chair. He glared at the window, but his expression shifted into one of confusion when he saw who the culprit was.

"Rangiku-san? What's going on?"

"Hi Ichigo! Have you noticed anything weird lately?" She asked bluntly.

"Weird…? Well… not really. A lot of stuff has been disappearing from school but I don't think that has anything to do with…"

Matsumoto cut in. "Have you noticed any bursts of reiatsu that don't seem to come from anything?"

"Hey, now that you mention it, I vaguely remember Ishida telling me that right before something disappears, he feels the presence of a hollow leaving Hueco Mundo. Well, I've never felt it so he may just be rubbing things in my face again, that I can't sense things and all." Ichigo scowled. Matsumoto thoughtfully looked out the window.

"Okay then, thanks for your time Ichigo!" she called as she leapt out the said window.

"Hey wait! Rangiku-san! What's going on? Why is a Shinigami of a vice captain rank stationed in Karakura? And who else is here?" But Matsumoto was already long gone and Ichigo only heard his questions disappear into the sky. "She is so… impulsive."

* * *

Hitsugaya leapt over Karakura high school, deep in thought. When he reached Urahara Shoten, he strode over and almost ripped the sliding door out of the wall.

"Ooh! Look what we have here! Be careful Hitsugaya-taichou, or else you'll have to pay for damages!" Urahara clunked towards Hitsugaya on his wooden sandals. When he noticed the young captain's brow furrowed in worry, all traces of goofiness vanished.

"Urahara… I probably shouldn't be too concerned. But menos can't move between this world and Hueco Mundo very quickly, can they?"

"No, why?"

"Today, Matsumoto and I were standing above the river when we felt the presence of a Menos Grande. But Menos Grande don't have the ability to mask their reiatsu so the only way it could have disappeared was to return to Hueco Mundo, which it seems to have done in under a second."

"Are you referring to those frequent bursts of intense reiatsu that occur all over the city?"

"Frequent? But today was the fir-"

"Taichou! There may be a correlation between these bursts of energy and objects that have gone missing all around the town!" Matsumoto called as she shunpo-ed onto the porch of Urahara Shoten.

* * *

Hitsugaya and Matsumoto decided to split up and comb through the town while Urahara continued to do some research on the pulses of hollow energy. As he navigated around town, Hitsugaya felt a pulse coming from the river, where he and Matsumoto had been earlier in the day. He quickly steered toward it.

As he got closer and closer to the river, the pulses became more and more frequent. When he finally reached the river, however, the pulses had come to a stop. Confused, he looked around the area slowly, taking in as many details as he could. In flash, the river had frozen beneath him and a tremendous amount of energy had rammed itself in his face.

And suddenly, the river was liquid again, but Hitsugaya had already drawn Hyourinmaru and frozen whatever was in front of him. However, before he could get a good look at what it was, the ice around it exploded sending him flying backwards. When he regained his balance, he looked up. From the debris and smoke rose a familiar silhouette.

"Momo…?"

* * *

Author's Notes: I know it says this is a HitsuxKarin fic, and it is! The prologue just has to create the setting for the entire story, and Karin doesn't happen to be in it. Look forward to lots of HitsuxKarin in later chapters! Starting with this next one I think...


	2. Gone

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters.

Chapter 2: Gone

* * *

"Onii-chan!" Karin called as she ascended the stairs half way. "Yuzu says it's time to eat!" Not hearing anything from her brother, Karin decided to check on what he was doing.

"Ichi-nii! Did you hear me? Oh you're studying? But it's Sunday morning… Ichi-nii should come out and play with us."

"Sorry, Karin. You wanna play soccer right? I promise that after this upcoming test is over, I'll play with you after school, okay?"

Karin blew out her cheeks. "Fine. But come down to eat okay?" As she walked towards the door of her brother's room, something caught her eye.

"Oh, Toushiro?! What are you doing here?" At the loud resounding crash behind her, Karin spun around. The chair Ichigo was previously sitting in lay two feet away from him on its back. At the sound of Hitsugaya's name, Ichigo had stood up fast, catapulting his chair away from him.

Hitsugaya calmly looked from her to her brother, and then directed his attention to the brunette girl once more.

"You can still see me, I guess. Well… stay out of trouble." Hitsugaya cleared his throat and looked down at the ground briefly before hopping off the windowsill and directing his full attention to Ichigo.

"Kurosaki."

"Oi, Toushiro-"

Hitsugaya bristled and interrupted. "It's Hitsugaya-taichou to you."

"What, and not to Karin? She knows about us already…." He trailed off. "Anyway, what's going on? Rangiku-san stopped by yesterday and started asking me questions. When I asked her why she was here, she just rushed out of the window and disappeared."

"Yeah, well she had to. We're chasing a hollow and apparently, whatever you told her yesterday was of extreme importance. I believe you said that objects had gone missing in your school and that the Quincy felt hollow reiatsu whenever the disappearances occurred? I need you to look further into that. Find out what was taken and whether those people whose items were stolen noticed anything strange."

"Che. Snarky little… always giving orders…" Ichigo mumbled under his breath. Hitsugaya deliberately ignored the strawberry.

"Kurosaki," he stated, now addressing Karin, "does your school have the same problems?"

"Toushiro! We're friends right? Call me by my first name!" Karin demanded, and then as if on afterthought, added, "And yes, several girls in my class have complained about their jewelry getting stolen."

"Very well, Kuro-" Hitsugaya paused when Karin glared at him and crossed her arms. He looked at her with careful regard. "Fine, _Karin_, please keep an eye out for any more disappearances, and see if you can sense any spirit power nearby when objects disappear."

"But how do you know these disappearances have anything to do with the hollow you're pursuing?"

Hitsugaya grasped the light chain around his neck and opened his mouth. Just then, Hitsugaya's cell phone beeped. He flicked it open and quickly read what was on the screen.

"The pulses have started again. I have to go."

"Wait Toushi-" Ichigo began. But realizing that his unasked questions would once again fall upon deaf ears, he fell silent.

* * *

Eight hours had passed since Hitsugaya invaded Ichigo's room. It was already dark out and Ichigo was studying yet again.

"Ichigo, before you fall out of your chair again, you should know that someone's coming to talk to you."

Ichigo grabbed the stuffed animal by the head and flung him against the wall.

"Shut it Kon. I have to study."

"Well," Kon shrugged as he rose from the floor dusting himself off, "it's your funeral." And then Matsumoto flew through the window screaming Ichigo's name. This time, both Ichigo and his chair toppled over onto their sides.

"God dammit Rangiku-san. Can't you make your presence known before you scr-"

"Ichigo! Come with me right away. We need to talk to Urahara _now_."

"Woah, woah! Hold on." Ichigo protested as Matsumoto grabbed his arm and started tugging him toward the open window. "What's going on? You can't expect me just to leave without a reason."

Matsumoto turned around and looked at the doorway sadly before hardening her gaze and shifting it to Ichigo. It had been a while since Ichigo had seen the blond vice captain so serious. All was quiet for a second, and then-

"Hitsugaya-taichou has gone missing."

* * *

Author's Notes: Short chapter, I know, but I was slightly short on time. Reviews appreciated! :D


	3. Confusion

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. I wish I didn't have to type this at the head of every chapter, but I guess better safe than sorry :/

Chapter 3: Confusion

* * *

Ichigo stared blankly. "Missing?"

"Yes, missing. Do you understand now? We have to figure out what's going on."

"Hold on…" came a quiet voice from the hall. "What do you mean Toushiro has gone missing?" Karin was standing in the doorway to her brother's room, holding a tray of snacks. "What's going on Rangiku-san?"

Matsumoto's eyes saddened once again as she looked over to the young Kurosaki.

"We shouldn't talk about this here." Karin set the tray down on the chair near the door and rushed forward, grabbing Matsumoto's shihakusho.

"Please Rangiku-san! I need to know what's going on!" Ichigo quietly grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him. He squatted down so that they were at eye level with one another.

"Karin, I know Toushiro is your friend, but this is dangerous. If a captain has gone missing, whatever we're dealing with must be strong. I can't let you face it."

"But-" Ichigo held up a hand.

"Actually Ichigo, I think Karin _should_ come with us. He is a precious um… friend to her after all…" Karin looked gratefully at Matsumoto, and then expectantly at her brother. The count was two against one and so despite his worries, Ichigo conceded.

"Fine, you can come. But if there is a fight, there is _no_ way I am letting you get involved. Do you understand me?"

"Thank you Onii-chan!"

* * *

"Oi, what is _she_ doing here?" Jinta drawled as he pointed an accusing finger at Karin, who glared at him.

"Shut up shorty. Why can't I be here? This involves me too."

"What, that a captain went missing? Get real. How does this involve you?"

"He's not just a captain, idiot. He's…"

"Oh yes, of course." Jinta smiled slyly. "The shorty with white hair is also yo-mmf!" Karin grabbed him, slamming a hand over his mouth. Hearing the scuffles behind him, Ichigo turned around and saw his younger sister with the red head in a headlock.

"Karin…? What are you doing?"

"What does it look like she's doing?" Jinta spat out as he tried vainly to get away. "Argh, get off me yo- woahh!!" he screamed as he was hoisted into the air by an extremely muscular Tessai. When the two kids had stopped struggling in his grasp, Tessai set them down on the ground.

"Alright everyone!" Urahara called with a snap of his fan. "Come in. It seems we have some very serious matters to discuss."

* * *

"And that's what happened. He just disappeared. Right after our phones alerted us to the pulses, I contacted him and asked him if he needed assistance. He told me to keep patrolling the town and that he would proceed to investigate the aforementioned pulses. Several hours later, I tried contacting him again but I couldn't get through. I also can't sense his reiatsu…" Matsumoto looked down at her cup of tea, at a loss for words.

"Well," Urahara started, "it's apparent that whatever is causing those bursts of reiatsu is responsible for this. I've been doing some research and we have a few things confirmed. However, Ishida-kun, could you do me the favor of answering this question?"

Ishida, who had showed up at Urahara Shoten after feeling the congregation of spirit powers there, looked up at the store manager.

"You said you sensed reiatsu whenever objects disappeared. Could you tell if they were from the same hollow?"

"They didn't seem to be. But it was a little weird. All the bursts had something in common with the others, but the wavelengths were definitely different. I felt like I even recognized some of them, although I couldn't recall where I had sensed them before."

"I see. That's actually very useful information. Because these bursts of reiatsu never occur simultaneously, I've concluded that there is only one source. But as you said Ishida, every time we sense the reiatsu, there's something different about it. This leads me to believe that the hollow is somehow manipulating the wavelengths of its reiatsu. But Hitsugaya-taichou confirmed with me earlier that Menos Grande, and yes, it is a Menos Grande, cannot mask their reiatsu. I think I have an idea of what's going on, but I'll need a bit more information. If someone can help me get a visual of this elusive hollow, or a sample of its spirit energy, I'll figure out the rest."

"… But Urahara-san," Karin asked slowly, "what makes you so sure that the missing objects have anything to do with this hollow? I mean I know it's hard to take it as coincidence that the energy bursts occur at the same time the objects go missing, but still… Toushiro was going to answer me, but he had to leave…"

"Well-"

"Hitsugaya-taichou also lost an item," Matsumoto cut in, "when he faced the hollow last night. He told me that the river froze over and he was at the center of the energy pulse. He said he managed to freeze what he thinks was the hollow but the ice exploded. When he came to his senses, he noticed a shadow that looked suspiciously like Hinamori… But it disappeared quickly. When the smoke cleared, he realized that the crystal around his neck was gone."

"Woah now, hold on." Urahara motioned to Tessai who quickly flipped open a notebook. "That's important. Where did Hitsugaya-taichou get the crystal?"

"Hinamori asked me to give it to him, as a reminder to stay safe in the human world."

There was a silence as everyone processed the information. Finally, Urahara spoke up.

"Alright, it's late. Everyone go home and get some rest. It seems as though this is more complicated that it first appeared to be. I still need a visual on the hollow, or some sample of it that I can study. And Kurosaki-kun, Karin-chan, please remember to ask around about the missing objects."

They all bid their good-nights and left the shop.

* * *

"STRAAAAAAAAAAAWWBERRRRRRRYY!!!" Whack.

"Hm… 'sup Keigo?" Ichigo looked at his outstretched arm, and then down at the face that had run into that arm.

"Ichigo! What was that for?" Keigo asked indignantly.

"Oh! Keigo, you said you lost that charm your first love gave you right?"

"Huh? Oh yea…"

"Did you notice anything weird about the disappearance?"

"Are we playing detective now? Can I join?"

"You are joining, by answering my question. Hurry up."

"Fine," Keigo pouted, "I didn't notice anything weird, oh great and masterful detective sir."

"Ugh, whatever. Oh hey Mizuiro!"

"What's up Strawberry?"

"When you lost your watch, did you notice anything weird?"

"Like what?"

"I dunno, people, animals, strange unusual phenomena, monsters…?" Ichigo tried.

"Huh…? I don't think so…"

"Oh wait!" Keigo exclaimed. "Now that you've brought up people, I do vaguely remember seeing a hazy person in the distance on my way home from school. It looked just like that girl who gave me the charm except she was still small. But she's older now, so I must have been imagining things…"

"Huh… weird…" Ichigo looked out the window as he pondered, but couldn't make heads or tails of the information he was just given.

* * *

"Hey Midori!"

"Y-yes Karin?"

"Did you notice anything weird around the time you lost your hair clip?"

"No…"

"Okay thanks." Karin ran off. Midori stared after her, not quite understanding what was going on. Next, Karin found the boy from her P.E. class.

"Oi, Hashigami!"

He answered her impudently. "What?" She glared at him, and he flinched back.

"Answer me now. When you lost your game system, did you notice something weird?"

"Why should I answer you?" Karin grabbed his shirt.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll talk to avoid getting your face smashed into the ground." Hashigami started quivering.

"Fine, fine! I didn't notice anything weird! Except that there was a large fuzzy heat blur a bit ahead of me when I realized my game was missing."

"What did the heat blur look like?"

"It was tall and skinny. I couldn't see it clearly, but at the top, it looked a bit like my mother's head. Can I go now?" Karin dropped his shirt and he quickly ran away.

"Coward." Karin muttered under her breath.

* * *

That night, everyone reconvened at Urahara Shoten. They gathered around the small wooden table at the back of the shop and told all they had learned that day.

"Hm… it seems, from what you're telling me, that certain people are experiencing the same phenomena. Kurosaki-kun, has Asano-kun showed any signs of spiritual power?"

"I don't think so… but I can never be sure with him. Keigo's always so weird so I can't tell whether he's being serious or not when he screams about monsters."

"Actually, Kurosaki, Asano has demonstrated quite a bit of spiritual recognition. He's been seeing hollow flying in the sky. I can sense a minute amount of reiatsu leaking from him."

Everyone looked at Ishida. He shrugged.

"Your ability to sense reiatsu seems just a little super powered…" Ichigo commented. Ishida shrugged again.

"I'm not sure what happened. One day, my ability to sense things just shot through the roof." Suddenly, Ishida stiffened. Everyone noticed the change in his gait and fixed their gazes on him, waiting for him to speak.

And then the wall exploded.

* * *

Author's comments: Long chapter :D And I'm a bit worried that I'm rambling now, because I'm typing this as I go along... Anyway, if it's confusing now, don't worry! I'll make sure everything gets explained clearly soon :D


	4. The Ability of Thieves

Disclaimer: I do not (for the nth time) own Bleach or any of it's characters.

Thanks to all my wonderful followers for your support!

Chapter 4: The Ability of Thieves

* * *

Ichigo gingerly patted the back of his head. He rose up from the floor where he had been thrown against the wall and looked around. Almost everyone had landed on his or her own feet, unlike him.

"Is everyone okay?" Urahara called amidst the rubble.

"Ungg… yea. Karin…? Oh my god, Karin?! Karin, where are you?" His little sister didn't respond and Ichigo started getting frantic.

"KARIN? OI KARIN ANSWER ME!"

"I-ichi-n-nii…" Ichigo quickly looked down at the pile of wood near his feet. Suddenly, one of the planks twitched, and then twitched again. When it finally came loose, Tessai's back emerged. He rose up steadily, still protecting Karin from any debris that could have potentially fallen.

"Oh thank god, thank you Tessai-san."

"Don't mention it."

Urahara whistled, catching their attention. He jerked his head in the direction of the trap door. Tessai immediately picked up the still dazed Karin and carried her to the door, disappearing underground.

Reassured that Karin would be okay, everyone directed their attention to the giant hole in the side of the store.

From the cloud of swirling dust, a figure emerged. Just a blur at first, as it advanced forward, its shape became more and more clearly defined.

"What is that…?" Ichigo mumbled.

"A person… a girl… holding a sword?!" Ishida squinted. "But it has the reiatsu of a hollow!"

Finally, the figure stepped out of the dust and into the light of a nearby street lamp.

"Hinamori?!" Matsumoto exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Did you blow up this wall?"

"…"

"Hinamori-san? Why does your reiatsu…" Ishida trailed off, eyes widening slightly. Urahara's face darkened

"Well now, this doesn't feel right…" He muttered. "Hinamori-san, please refrain from taking anymore steps towards us. I have some questions I'd like to ask you. You weren't dispatched to the human world, so why are you here?"

"…"

"Why did you attack my shop?"

"…"

"… And why and how, may I ask, have you adopted the form of Hinamori-san?" Where she had been standing a moment before, there was only air. Suddenly, a grotesque white skull mask was up in Ichigo's face, mouth open and ready to consume. Taken completely by surprise, Ichigo could do nothing but watch as the hollow's face got closer and closer to his own.

But Urahara had been expecting no less. He immediately charged in and, as though from thin air, appeared by Ichigo's side, kicking the hollow's head away. The hollow landed on all fours, sliding along the ground.

Finally, everyone had a good look at what they had been chasing for the past few days, but it was not at all what they were expecting. Every single item that had disappeared was embedded within the hollow's skin or hanging from various parts of its body.

"Oh!" Matsumoto exclaimed as she pointed up at the hollow's forehead. "That's Hitsugaya-taichou's crystal!" Right in the middle of the forehead, against the pure white mask, the crystal shimmered, releasing a deceptively pure aura.

Urahara paled and his eyes grew wide. "That aura…!!" The hollow hissed at the recognition Urahara displayed. Returning once more to Hinamori's form, it shot into the air and, in a flash of purple light, disappeared.

* * *

After rummaging through the stocks of Soul Society goods, Urahara finally managed to find what he had been looking for. Rubbing the seemingly ordinary quarter between his thumb and middle finger, Urahara threw it with all his might through the giant hole in the wall left by the hollow's appearance. Immediately, threads of reiatsu wove their way towards the center of the hole.

"Now then… while that's mending, let's go downstairs. I have some very interesting news I have to share with you…" Urahara still looked a bit unsettled, so everyone promptly followed him through the trapdoor and into the underground training room.

When they reached the bottom of the ladder, they were greeted with a sight they did not expect to see. Karin was wrestling with Tessai, or rather, she was wrestling with the arm that was curled around her waist.

"Let. Me. Go. Tessai-san! They're fighting up there! I have to go help!"

"Karin! Calm down, we're okay. And didn't I say that if there was a fight, you were _not_ to get involved?"

At the sound of her brother's voice, Karin stopped struggling and looked around.

"Ichi-nii, the fight's over? What happened?"

"We found… or rather, the hollow that stole Toushiro's crystal found us, but there seems to be something we didn't notice that Urahara-san did. He's about to tell us, so quiet down and listen okay?"

The group formed a small circle at the base of the ladder.

"Does anyone know what the 'Ability of Thieves' is?" Urahara asked. Matsumoto gasped and Tessai looked alarmed, but they were the only one who showed any reaction.

"The what?" Ichigo asked.

"I remember studying it at the academy." Matsumoto recollected. "It has something to do with stealing other people's powers right? The scrolls don't go very in depth about it, so that's about all I know."

"That's right. It's a rare phenomenon that happens once every 5000 or so years. The information I'm about to share with you is taboo. But considering the circumstances, I think it would be best for all of you to know. Every human spirit, as you know, has the ability to become a shinigami. Everyone has latent inborn reiatsu. But in addition to these two things, every human spirit also has a unique ability that has been locked away. The only time these abilities can be unlocked is when the Ability of Thieves manifests in either Soul Society or the human world."

"Why is this information taboo?" Ishida asked during Urahara's pause to take a sip of tea. "It doesn't seem like this information can cause disaster or anything."

"… Well, the last few times spirits had access to their unique abilities, catastrophes induced by these abilities resulted in the survival of only ¼ of the earth's human and spirit population…"

* * *

Author's Notes: Had a bit of trouble figuring out where the plot should go next. There are ideas exploding around inside my head like popcorn that needed to be sorted, so this chapter took a little longer than the previous ones ^^;;; Read and review please! :D


	5. He's my !

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach.

The dumb chapter title edit thing doesn't let me type in "-", "...", or "!!" so on the drop down menu, the title got screwed up. Ignore that please :D

Chapter 5: He's my...!!

* * *

"Wait, you're joking right?" Everyone looked at Karin. "Over half the human population _died_?"

"Yes Karin-san. The accumulation of spirits unable to control their new powers resulted in a runaway chain of deaths. This didn't occur instantaneously though. People don't unlock their powers the moment the Ability of Thieves manifests itself. In the past, the ones who gained the Ability of Thieves, and we generally refer to people as 'dorobou', became corrupt, and travelled around spreading the knowledge of how to unlock those powers. By doing so, the dorobou could determine who had what power. Once the dorobou figured out which ability it wanted to steal, it would take an item given as a gift by the person who held the ability it wanted. A hollow has never, in the history of Soul Society, been the one to bring the Ability of Thieves into the world. This may prove useful because hollow cannot easily communicate with humans, and spirits are too afraid to listen to what a hollow has to say. Hopefully, catastrophes can be avoided this time…"

Everyone was silent in thought. Then Ishida spoke up.

"But how does this Ability of Thieves work? And how do people unlock their powers?"

"There are many methods of unlocking these abilities. There are also a few select people who _do_ slowly gain their powers over time. In fact, Ishida-san, your heightened ability to sense and distinguish reiatsu may be the result of the manifestation of the Ability of Thieves. If that's the case, then your ability is one of the more peaceful ones."

At that moment, Ururu walked in holding a floating orb of reiatsu.

"Um… Kisuke-san, the analysis is complete." She passed the orb to Urahara who examined it closely. After five minutes, he looked up, satisfied.

"Well then everyone, I believe it's time we get our facts straight. Upon the analysis of this hollow's reiatsu that I've obtained from our fight, I've determined that it holds a great power. It is able to create new dimensions… that is its inborn power. As the dorobou, it also gained new abilities. When the dorobou steals an item, that item contains the ability _and _reiatsu of the person who gave it as a gift. The dorobou can utilize those powers imbued in the item at its free will. And while it's true that this menos still cannot mask its reiatsu, the Ability of Thieves has given it the ability to intermingle the reiatsu of others with its own, which explains why the reiatsu we've been feeling lately has been so strange. Those short bursts of energy we've been feeling over the past few days result either from the hollow testing the reiatsu of the item it's stolen or the hollow taking on a new ability. I believe that since the hollow has not been able to communicate with people, it's been taking jabs at items hoping for an ability it finds satisfactory."

"And now, it's found one…" Matsumoto finished. "It seems to like the crystal it stole from Hitsugaya-taichou. So this means that now it can use Hinamori's powers?"

"It seems so."

"But then… what happened to Toushiro?" Karin asked. "Just because the hollow stole his crystal, it doesn't mean he'd disappear…"

"Matsumoto-san, you said Hitsugaya-taichou disappeared after investigating the energy several hours ago right? Doesn't he seem like the type of captain who will follow a hollow for as long as he can, wherever he can?"

Matsumoto put a finger up to her lip. "Well… taichou _is_ a workaholic…"

"Exactly. I think he somehow made it into the hollow's newly created dimension. Naturally, communications with him would be jammed because he's in a dimension we've never been to. For the same reason, you wouldn't be able to sense his reiatsu, correct?"

"But he might need help!" Karin cried. "Is there a way for us to get there and help him?"

"Yeah Urahara-san, there as to be a way for _us_ to get in there. Karin, you are not going anywhere that involves a hollow. Remember what I said before we left home."

"But Ichi-nii! I have reiatsu too! I can see hollows! I even fought a few with that Don Kanonji guy."

"No, Karin. I can't ask you to go with us and put yourself in danger. You have no part in this."

"And what about you Ichi-nii? You didn't have any part in this either! You're not even a real shinigami. You're just the substitute, and this is Soul Society's problem. If you can get involved, why can't I? Toushiro could be in a lot of trouble!"

"Did you hit your head on something when the wall exploded? You saw what happened! You almost died. If Tessai-san had not protected you, you could have been seriously hurt by all the falling debris. Toushiro is a _captain_. You want to put your life at risk to protect someone who is so much stronger than you? He's not going to die!"

"This stupid hollow has the ability to kill ¾ of the human population! I know Toushiro is strong! But he can't shoulder this all alone!"

"Karin, you can't make much of a difference."

"I'll train!"

"And get strong enough to protect Toushiro? You haven't known him for so long. Why is he so important?"

"He's…!!"

"WHAT? What is he?" Ichigo crossed his arms and glared at his little sister.

"HE'S MY BOYFRIEND!"

* * *

Author's Notes: *shot'd* The ending... XD;; I don't know if that was a good end to a chapter or a bad one... It doesn't really sound like something Karin would shout, huh...? And also, I feel like Urahara's explanations are reeeeeeeally long... So sorry about that XD


End file.
